How much can you earn now by purchasing a Saga phone at the original price?

Original | Odaily Planet Daily

Author | Azuma

The smartphone Saga developed by Solana Labs has recently gained significant market attention, but the reason lies not in the consumer experience it offers, but rather in the generous airdrops from several Solana ecosystem projects like Bonk (BONK), which have made the additional airdrop benefits from purchasing a Saga exceed the original value of the phone. This phenomenon has been humorously referred to by many community members as a modern version of "buying the case and returning the pearl."

Last weekend, Solana officially announced that the Saga phone is completely sold out in North America, with only a small amount remaining in Europe.

A search on e-commerce sites like eBay reveals that the current resale price of Saga on eBay has exceeded $2000, significantly higher than the official price of $599 (which was initially $1000 but was reduced due to poor sales), and the shipping locations are primarily in Europe and Oceania.

So, if a lucky user managed to purchase a Saga at the original price before the BONK craze started, how much profit can they make now?

According to Odaily Planet Daily's statistics, the confirmed additional benefits from the Saga phone can be divided into three main parts: airdrop profits, mining profits, and resale appreciation. Next, we will analyze these three different components of profit step by step to see how much one could earn if they bought a Saga phone at the original price.

Airdrop Profits

First, the most anticipated part is the airdrop profits. All new users can receive a Saga Genesis Token when they activate their Saga phone, which can be used to claim up to 30 million BONK, currently valued at approximately $536 (the peak total value reached $1024.8 on December 15).

In addition to BONK, holding a Saga also grants access to airdrops from several other projects and exclusive NFT minting qualifications, specifically including:

Call of Saga: In May of this year, Claynosaurz launched the NFT series Call of Saga in collaboration with Saga. Users holding the Saga Genesis Token have exclusive minting rights, and the current floor price for Call of Saga is 22.25 SOL, valued at approximately $1700.

Access Protocol (ACS): Airdrop amount of 100,000 ACS, with a total value of approximately $256.

Solend (SLND): Details are unconfirmed, but its founder Rooter has confirmed that there will be an airdrop for Saga holders;

Note: Rooter has confirmed that there will be an airdrop for Saga holders.

Samoyedcoin (SAMO): Details are unconfirmed, but its official X account has announced that there will be an airdrop for Saga holders;

Additionally, mainstream projects in the ecosystem, including Jupiter (JUP), as well as meme tokens like MORY and GECKO, have discussed airdrops for Saga holders, but there are currently no definitive official announcements.

Note: Jupiter has not confirmed whether there will be an airdrop for Saga holders.

In summary, as an excellent credential for OG users in the Solana ecosystem, Saga holders have become a priority choice for many Solana ecosystem projects during airdrops, and it is expected that more projects will choose to follow suit.

Mining Profits

Mining profits mainly refer to the ability of Saga phone holders to mine on the decentralized wireless communication network Helium Mobile (MOBILE) and the decentralized storage network ShdwDrive (SHDW), with MOBILE having become a hot topic in the community due to its several-fold increase in value over the past month.

It is important to clarify that participating in Helium Mobile mining is not exclusive to Saga, but the developer of Helium Mobile, Nova Labs, provided SIM cards and a one-month free trial to Saga phone users last year, allowing Saga to "take advantage" directly.

According to feedback from users who participated in Helium Mobile mining, in October, daily mining could yield 8000 - 9000 coins, but recently, with a surge of users, individual mining profits have decreased to around 2000 coins, and the output is still decreasing at a rate of about 9% per day.

Taking an average value of 5000 from 8000 - 2000 as an estimate, if Saga holders effectively utilized the one-month free trial period for Helium Mobile mining, they could have earned approximately 150,000 MOBILE in the past month, valued at around $900 (this is just a rough estimate).

As for ShdwDrive (SHDW), its official account previously confirmed on the X platform that users holding Saga can easily participate in SHDW mining by simply opening the app, but there is currently a lack of disclosure regarding the mining profit status on social media.

Resale Profits

The final potential revenue stream is resale. As mentioned earlier, the current resale price of Saga on eBay has exceeded $2000, and most sellers will note whether they have claimed the BONK airdrop. However, even excluding the value of the BONK airdrop, the resale price of the Saga still has significant profit potential compared to the official price of $599.

However, considering the trend of Solana ecosystem projects airdropping to Saga holders, and the fact that Saga users can also profit from mining in addition to airdrops, HODLing may be a better choice for lucky buyers who have already purchased a Saga.